On the Job with Mike Zacker, real estate broker-owner

The Kenosha County real estate market has been robust over the past three years, with each year being slightly better the previous one.

Challenges in the market call for savvy real estate professionals. Despite their size, in a competitive marketplace small boutique agencies can fill a niche by knowing their community, participating in community activities and being the resource that can help newcomers feel at home in their new setting.

Mike Zacker

Where do you work?

I began working at Cove Realty, 4515 Washington Road, in Kenosha in February 2003. I’m celebrating my 16th anniversary. My work experience has been honed here.

What is your job title

and what do you do?

As the broker-owner, I am responsible for supervising our team of agents, promoting Cove, coordinating marketing efforts, managing client trust funds, paying the bills, helping our agents succeed and everything else a small business owner does.

What is your work objective?

I’m lucky enough to work with all different types of people looking to buy and or sell real estate including single-family homes, condos, vacant land and commercial property. For buyers, I handle everything from showing properties, helping introduce them to lenders for financing, submitting offers, working through counter offers, inspections, appraisals and getting them ready for closing.

For sellers, I give tips on how to get their property ready to be listed, help them establish a list price, coordinate showings, feedback, negotiate offers and help with further negotiations after inspections and appraisals.

I also help coordinate things people never think about such as establishing utilities, referring buyers to contractors and sometimes even recommending restaurants, accountants, attorneys and so forth. For many buyers, moving here from out of state, the Cove Realty team is essential for getting them acquainted with the area.

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What work did experiences bring you to this position?

I worked for Northwestern Mutual Life right out of college. While I loved working with and helping people, I enjoyed being in sales. I was never very passionate about insurance in general. Real estate appealed to me, and I decided to make the move from insurance to real estate and never looked back. The training and people skills I learned while at NML were a huge help to me right out of the gate.

What do you enjoy most about your responsibilities?

I enjoy the interaction with people. I love that they allow me to help them with possibly the largest financial transaction they will make. The old adage of people starting as customers and becoming friends really applies in our industry. I try to treat every client like they are my only client because, truth be told, if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t exist. I also enjoy the relationships I have established with other Realtors, lenders, home inspectors, attorneys and title company employees; we really need to all work together to achieve results for our clients.

Where do you see your industry going in the next few years?

I’m cautiously optimistic that our industry will continue to grow in the next few years. I say that mostly as our region has enjoyed unprecedented growth, and it appears as though that trend will continue. We have companies relocating to our area and existing companies are growing. Those businesses need employees, and those employees need housing.

On the Job is a weekly feature of the Kenosha News, profiling workers in our community. We’re interested in all manner of jobs and employment. To participate, email James Lawson at jlawson@kenoshanews.com.